TriQuint stumbles on Motorola stockpile
TriQuint s profits for the quarter ended June 30 fell to $1.4 million from $6.4 million in the previous three months, due to the impact of a write-off of stock destined for Motorola.
This blot on an otherwise steady quarter, in which revenues grew to $114 million, up from $111 million the previous three months, was in line with the Hillsboro, Oregon, communication device manufacturer's previous predictions.
“Of the $4.1 million excess inventory charge, $3 million was specific to a single device for a specific customer,” said Ralph Quinsey, TriQuint s CEO.
“Our device was unique to a platform that did not meet demand expectations, and we are the 100 percent supplier for this device.”
TriQuint anticipates further inventory reduction over the coming quarter. In addition, charges incurred moving to a “hub” inventory model with Motorola, which had been expected to occur earlier, have been delayed by the low volume of orders from that direction.
Beyond these issues, the company described its Q2 2007 handset performance as “robust”, in particular benefiting from its involvement in Qualcomm reference designs.
The association gained TriQuint places in EDGE handsets for its Hadron InGaP/GaAs HBT power amplifier (PA) with top and second tier customers, and for its Tritium 2 PA-duplexer, which has found a home in three Nokia WCDMA handsets.
Along with a separate relationship with ZTE, which is including Quantum WEDGE PA modules in phones destined for Vodafone users in India and China, these deals represent the growing importance of 3G interface standards to the company.
In particular, WEDGE revenue grew by 152 percent from the previous year, which Quinsey felt would help lead to income growth from handsets once the company had ridden its issues with Motorola.
In the meantime TriQuint anticipates overall revenues to grow across its entire handset business, including with Motorola and Samsung, the company's largest customers.
“I m cautious about Q3 because we do have some inventory,” said Quinsey, “but from a revenue perspective I feel pretty good about it.”
“I expect handset revenue to accelerate in Q4.”
